Mus Mortuus

It was a rainy day in the Pecha Forest. The sun had all but disappeared behind the grey clouds and the droplets of rain were running off of the leaves all around. The fresh smell of clean air was carried through the area by a gentle breeze, making the twigs sway with its force.
While this weather was something most Pokémon would rather avoid, Chie the Duskull didn't mind it. In fact the monotonous sound of rain falling had a calming, almost soothing effect on her psyche even though she usually preferred to listen to it from the safety of her home.
The Ghost type didn't leave her home often in general - usually only to go look for books she hadn't read yet, to buy some neccessities or to go on the odd mission with Sorren, her leader.
But today she was walking - or floating rather - through this sea of green and grey to clear her head.
After a rather lengthy period of reading she had overexerted herself and put too much of a strain on her mind and eye, both reminding her to take some time off with their burning.
And thus the Pokémon, who would usually rather have stayed home found herself floating through the Pecha Forest, hoping for the rather monotonuous colours and general structure of the area to soothe her mind.
It certainly had a sort of melancholic aura, the Pecha Forest in the rain. And it reminded Chie once more of why she had become who she was.
All living things move towards death from the moment they are born.
But some do so much more quickly than others, leaving those who survive alone in life.
And if that was the case - then why form relationships at all if you are inevitably going to get hurt?
Chie sighed.

Raze walked into the Pecha Forest, moaning because of the rain "Great... nice time for it to start raining" he mumbled to himself, his electricity sparking because he was getting wet, he picked up a leaf bigger than him to protect himself from the rain, and sat down under a tree, waiting for a bit so that the rain could get slightly weaker, but to avail, the rain got slightly heavier, but enough waiting, he wanted to train, and so he got up, walking around the forest with his leaf above his head.

Chie meanwhile didn't mind the rain in the slightest. It was just water after all. So why should it be avoided while it rained outside, yet used to wash oneself or to bathe in daily?
In fact rain almost was preferrable to sunshine. The sun could blind and its scorching rays could easily be exhausting and draining. Rainfall meanwhile was refreshing and peaceful.
So why did others dislike it this much?
This was one of many things Chie would probably never understand about the common Pokémon.
But then again - was there a Pokémon who truly understood everything about their brethren?

Raze continued walking around the forest, until he saw a shadowy figure in front of him, 'Is that... a ghost?' He thought, he was terrified of them, but perhaps it wasn't one of those evil ones that caused mischief, he took his chances and called out to the shadowy figure, "Hey!" He called out to it, standing there waiting for it's reaction.

Certainly not having expected to be talked to in this dark forest, Chie, who was lost in thought at this point in time, jumped into the air in surprise. Who was there and why did they try talking to her?
Chie didn't even recognize the voice, so it was a total stranger most likely. What did they want?
"W-who are you?", the Duskull stammered into the empty forest.
She knew that she would most likely be able to easily escape any attacker but that didn't make her any less nervous. In fact she was even more afraid of the possibilitiy of meeting someone new - of making a new friend. After all making a friend meant becoming afraid of losing them - of being hurt. And as Chie was a Ghost type it was inevitable to eventually have to lose them.
Hopefully she had just been hearing things.

The Pichu looked at the ghost, "Woah, calm down, I mean no harm..." He looked at the ghost, not quite expecting that reaction from him, perhaps he had surprised the ghost, but he just stood there, holding his leaf above his head, but still getting wet, his electricity continued to spark, but more wildly now, as he ran under a large tree nearby for protection, the more his electricity sparked or used it for attacks, the more damage he would do to himself, he huffed as he was under it "Hope this does protect me somewhat..." He looked upwards.

As the Duskull turned in the direction she had heard the voice coming from, she saw electricity sparking wildly.
"Then why is there so much electricity around you?", she asked. After all there would be no need to charge up power if there wasn't an enemy nearby. And the only other creature in the area was the Ghost type. So unless there was an enemy unseen, the electricity-using Pokémon was most likely trying to do harm to her.
The Duskull had almost sighed in relief. At least it wasn't someone trying to befriend her.
With how little experience the Requiem Pokémon had with conversations, these battles were much harder to win than the physical ones.

Raze was looking around, the rain slightly had slightly weakened from the last time he noticed, and the sparks that he had let go took a toll on his stamina, but he had hardly noticed it, 'This weather sure isn't helping...' He thought, his sparks slowly died down until there were none left emitting from this cheeks, there was no way that he could carry on with this rain, so he decided to wait, forgetting that there was a ghost Pokémon that he called out to in his slight panic.

"Uh...heloo-o?", Chie asked, now thoroughly confused.
Maybe she had been hearing and seeing things. Either that or there was another reason why the voice had not responded to her question. Maybe...maybe it was sneaking up on her!
Determined not to let that happen, Chie levitated into the air, out of the reach of any ground-bound Pokémon. Still, there were ranged attacks she would have to look out for. But to evade those she would have to know where they were coming from.
Carefully her single eye scanned the forest, hoping to find the source of the voice.
Or maybe it really was just her hearing things. Then there was nothing to worry about.

The Pichu looked around and saw the ghost again, remembering that he had called out to her, "Hi there!" He called out her, she hadn't done anything to him while he was looking for protection from the rain, where he could easily be attacked, so he assumed that the ghost wasn't bad, maybe the ghost could even help him train, he looked up towards the ghost, wondering what she was doing.

Finally the Duskull was able to make out the source of the voice that had called out to her. It was a yellow Pokémon, a Pichu it seemed. So either she still was hallucinating or that Pokémon was actually real. Neither option was a good one.
"Again - what do you want from me?", she asked, almost hoping to be attacked in return.
What was that Pokémon thinking anyway - simply talking to a ghost in the middle of a dark forest. Had it no instinct for self-preservation? Now Chie wasn't a violent Pokémon, but the same could most definitely not be said for most other beings in the area, so randomly talking to strangers could very quickly turn out to be a very bad idea.

The Pichu looked at it sort of startled for it to reply that way, "Woah, calm down..." He knew that his eletricity sparking would get him into a bad situation, and it seem the ghost would have turned hostile, he took a few steps back, "All I wanted was to find a dungeon so I could train... I thought I could get some help..." He said to her.

The Ghost type was confused. Why did the Pichu keep telling her to calm down?
She had just asked a perfectly normal question, hadn't she?
"You're asking for...my help? But why all the sparks then? And sorry, but I have to disappoint you there. I'm not a good fighter."
This Pokémon was a strange one. It had stopped responding all of a sudden, now it had grown agitated at completely normal questions. Was it Chie's lack of social skills or was it this other Pokémon that was making this conversation so difficult?

The ghost seemed calm now, so maybe he wasn't in danger now, "It's the rain, it makes my electricity go wild if I get to wet..." He looked down, maybe the ghost had his sparks as a threat, but it wasn't his fault for that happening, he isn't adept at controlling his electricity, "It's ok, I'll carry on then, sorry to have bothered you then..." He then looked at the rain, pouring down still, he sighed, and sat down, setting his bag at his side, before climbing up the tree, pulling another leaf, then going back down again, and decided to wait for a bit, for the rain to weaken.

"Oh! No, I'm sorry!", the Ghost type stammered, thoroughly flustered.
As usual she had completely misinterpreted the situation and most likely caused quite a bit of pain.
But what could she do to remedy that?
"I didn't mean to hurt you or anything! I'm just not good with talking and that stuff..."
It truly was a conundrum. On the one hand having friends would mean getting hurt eventually. But on the other hand trying to push those away that tried to befriend you would mean hurting them instead.
Did other Pokémon have equally difficult problems to solve? The protagonists in all those books seemed to be able to deal with them so easily...